Telecommunication cables are ubiquitous and used for distributing data across vast networks. The majority of cables are electrically conductive cables (typically copper), although the use of optical fiber cables is growing rapidly in telecommunication networks as larger and larger amounts of data are transmitted. As telecommunication cables are routed across data networks, it is necessary to periodically open the cable so that one or more telecommunication lines therein may be spliced, thereby allowing data to be distributed to other cables or “branches” of the telecommunication network. At each point where a telecommunication cable is opened, it is necessary to provide a telecommunications enclosure to protect the exposed interior of the cable. The cable branches may be further distributed until the network reaches individual homes, businesses, offices, and so on.
In some installations, hybrid cables or composite cables containing both optical and electrical conductors may be used, or the telecommunication cables can be disposed in protective conduits to provide protection to the cables contained therein. When a protective conduit or hybrid cable is used, environmental protection is needed at the breakout point where the cables within the conduit of hybrid cable are accessed so that the signals being carried by the cables can be routed to the desired location or piece of equipment. Conventional methods of making this final connection include taking the individual cables from the conduit or hybrid cable and running them directly to the remote location or equipment, or to connect the terminal ends of the cables in a the conduit or hybrid cable to individual jumper cables within a conventional telecommunication enclosure. Both of these approaches have disadvantages. For example, when cables from a hybrid cable having sufficient conductors to service multiple remote sites are used, the jacket and shielding layer (if present) of the cable must be removed for a sufficient length to allow the routing of the cable to the most distant of the locations being served by the cables. Doing the connection in this manner could be wasteful of the expensive hybrid cable that is being deconstructed to serve the remote sites. In addition, this approach would require an additional labor expense to express excessive lengths of the interior cables disposed within the hybrid cable.
Thus, the lower cost of using separate optical and electrical conductors might lead on to use the conventional closure approach mentioned above. However, this approach can require complex splicing/connection operations to be done in the field which may be undesirable if the craftsman doing the installation does not have the proper degree of skill or if the installation is done in a challenging environment such as when the connections are being made a hundred or so feet in the air on a cell tower installation.
Thus, a breakout/terminal device for multimedia multi-conductor cables and conduits is needed that allows simple and reliable connection of electrical and optical conductors in the field.